美国有线新闻 CNN 以色列举行11个月内第三次议会选举

The Middle Eastern country of Israel has just wrapped up its third election in 11 months. The other two which were held last year resulted in deadlocks² in Israel's government. So the question is, will this election break it? Here's why there's been a stalemate.

中东国家以色列刚刚结束了11个月内的第三次选举。前两次选举于去年举行，选举结果导致以色列政府陷入僵局。现在的问题是，这次选举能打破僵局吗？下面我们来解释一下出现僵局的原因。

In Israel's Knesset, its parliament, there are 120 seats. A political party needs to have a simple majority, at least 61 of those seats to take control and choose the prime minister. But there are dozens of political parties in Israel. No single one of them is likely to get that 61 seat majority in an election, so they have to team up to form a coalition³ to make things work.

以色列议会有120个席位。一个政党需要获得简单多数票，即赢得至少61个席位，才能取得控制权和选择总理的权利。但是以色列有数十个政党。没有单一政党有可能在选举中赢得61个席位，因此他们必须联合起来组建联盟，才能让事情顺利进行。

But after last April's election and for the first time in Israel's history, no one was able to form that coalition government including the party of Israel's current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So he called for a second round of elections. Those were held in September. And again, deadlock¹.

但在去年4月的选举结束之后，以色列出现史上首次没有政党能组建联合政府的情况，以色列现任总理本雅明·内塔利亚胡所在政党也没能做到。因此，他要求举行第二轮选举。这次选举于去年9月举行。结果，以色列再次陷入僵局。

So what happened last night? We don't have the final results but all three of the main exit polls in Israel projected that a coalition led by the incumbent⁴ prime minister was on track to secure 60 seats.

那昨晚的情况如何？目前我们还未得到最终结果，但以色列的三个主要出口民调预测，现任总理领导的联盟有望确保60个席位。

That's one short of the simple majority. And this same coalition secured 60 seats in the first election last April but wasn't able to form a government. Still, Prime Minister Netanyahu called Mondays votes a great victory for Israel. And if a coalition government is formed this time around, the nation will avoid a fourth election.

这距离简单多数票还差一票。这个联盟在去年4月举行的首次选举中也获得了60个席位，但最终未能成功组建政府。不过，内塔尼亚胡总理依然称周一举行的投票是以色列的伟大胜利。如果这次能组建联合政府，那以色列将避免第四次选举。

1 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

2 deadlocks   

僵局( deadlock的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They deluge Washington with proposals to break deadlocks. 他们使华盛顿淹没在试图打开僵局的各种各样的建议里。
• Pennsylvania produced the first of the game's two deadlocks at 5:00 of the second quarter. 这次比赛出现两次平局，在第二个四分之一场的第五分钟宾夕法尼亚州队第一次将比分拉平。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。